In modern power conversion applications such as switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) dedicated control circuits (controllers) are used to control switching converters in order to efficiently convert an input voltage into an output voltage. Controllers used in connection with switching converters may include, inter alia, a processor, peripherals, as well as further components for controlling the switching operation of the switching converter and for regulating the output voltage to obtain a desired system behavior.
Dependent on the application, a controller for a switching converter is often implemented as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) including a microcontroller (i.e. a microprocessor and some peripherals) together with other circuits such as interface circuits (used to connect with e.g. sensor circuits), driver circuits, communication interfaces, etc. Modern switching converter controllers are designed to flexibly support various switching converter topologies (e.g. buck converters, boost converters, flyback converters, Ćuk converters, LLC converters, etc.) and various operation modes such as Continuous conduction mode (CCM) with pulse width modulation (PWM), CCM with pulse frequency modulation (PFM), discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) with PWM or PWM, quasiresonant mode (QR mode), burst mode, low power consumption mode (sleep mode), etc. In order to provide the required functionality, the switching converter controller may include, besides he mentioned microprocessor, various analog and digital circuits (function blocks) that need to flexibly communicate with each other. In this context it should be noted that the communication/signaling between the mentioned function blocks may be subject to harsh real-time constraints.